The Thistle - An E-Newsletter of Scotch College, Perth, Western Australia

Academic Support

Parents as Partners in Learning

Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning, before school, the year one boys and their parents gather together for Reading Club. This is a special time for boys to be with their mum or dad to enjoy reading together. It is also a very valuable time because boys have the opportunity to practice their reading skills. Below are some tips to help you get the most from your son when reading together:

Before you Read

TALK about the book before you read it.
LOOK at the pictures, the cover, the title.
ASK "What do you think it is about?"
GO through the book page by page.
TALK about the picture and the words or ideas that might be in the book.

Do encourage your son to guess what the story is about.

Do praise your son when an idea or word is used that you know will come up in a story.

Do ask questions like:

  • "What can you tell about the story from the picture?"
  • "What do you think will happen in the story?"

Do read from the pictures, encouraging your son to build up a story before looking at print.

Do talk about the start of the story, what happened by the end of the story, the people in the story…etc.

Do mention things like:

  • The person who wrote the story - the author.
  • The person who did the illustrations - the illustrator.

While you read

Give your son time to work out words:

  • 5 seconds or more is reasonable
  • after 10 seconds ENCOURAGE your child to use the following strategies when they come across an unknown word:

- "What do you think the word is?"

- "Read the sentence again and see if you can work it out."

- "Have a go."

- "Look at the picture."

- "What does it start with?"

Mrs Janet Lopez
Head of Academic Support